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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. saw — the tool
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. rock — music
  7. current — of water
  8. clip — to cut
  9. march — music
  10. current — electric
  11. rock — a stone
  12. clip — a video
  13. kick — in football
  14. march — the month
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. staff — a stick
  17. sharp — clever
  18. staff — employees
  19. clip — for paper
  20. march — the month
  21. saw — the tool
  22. current — happening now
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. sharp — exactly

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com